Reporters interview officials, including FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Debra Evans Smith (R) at the Multi-Agency Communications Center (MACC) in an undisclosed location in the Maryland suburbs near Washington, January 15, 2013. The MACC is a central location where security, defense and public safety agencies will coordinate efforts in case of problems during President Barack Obama's inauguration next week in Washington. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Statement by the President on Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's Announcement that He Will Return to Colorado(as released by the White House)

"I want to thank Ken for his hard work and leadership on behalf of the American people. As the Secretary of the Interior, Ken has helped usher in a new era of conservation for our nation’s land, water, and wildlife.

Ken has played an integral role in my Administration’s successful efforts to expand responsible development of our nation’s domestic energy resources.

In his work to promote renewable energy projects on our public lands and increase the development of oil and gas production, Ken has ensured that the Department’s decisions are driven by the best science and promote the highest safety standards.

Ken has also made historic strides in strengthening our nation to nation relationship with Indian Country, helping to resolve longstanding disputes and make tribal communities safer and stronger.

I have valued Ken’s friendship since we both entered the Senate in 2005, and I look forward to receiving his counsel even after he returns to his home state of Colorado."

"We have discussed the recent ratification of the constitution, as well as concerns we have about aspects of the current constitution, including on issues of religious tolerance, women's rights, and the due process of justice for civilians. Here, too, any amendment of the constitution is up to the Egyptian people."

Gun control activists and gun rights advocates have said in recent days that they could find common ground, particularly over the issue of expanding background checks for potential gun owners. The NRA ad's tone, however, and the personal nature of the attacks speaks to the cultural gulf that divides both sides.

U.S. President Barack Obama hugs a young boy named Grant Fritz -- one of a group of children who wrote the president letters about guns and gun control -- after signing executive orders on a series of proposals to counter gun violence during an event at the White House in Washington, January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed

Most Americans remain opposed to overturning the controversial Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion at least in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The poll by the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should not be overturned, compared to 29 percent who believe it should be. These opinions have changed little from surveys conducted in 2003 and 1992, Pew reported.

Michael Dimock, director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, said it is uncommon to see so little change in attitudes on a controversial issue.

"Attacking firearms and ignoring children is not a solution to the crisis we face as a nation. Only honest, law-abiding gun owners will be affected and our children will remain vulnerable to the inevitability of more tragedy."

- National Rifle Association, in a public statement two hours after President Obama announced a series of legislative proposals and executive actions aimed at curbing gun violence. (read the full statement here)

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick introduced a new series of gun laws on Wednesday that would tighten rules on sales of weapons and ammunition, in the wake of last month's deadly school shooting in neighboring Connecticut.

Patrick made the announcement a day after New York state adopted one of the toughest gun-control laws in the United States and shortly before President Barack Obama proposed a new national assault-weapons ban and strengthened background checks on prospective gun buyers.

"In the wake of too many tragedies, I have filed legislation to tackle the problem of gun violence and illegal firearm possession," Patrick, a Democrat, said in a statement.

During the past two years as his frustration with a "dysfunctional" Congress has grown, President Barack Obama has resorted to bypassing the legislative branch as he did on Wednesday to implement tighter gun control laws.

"Where they won't act, I will," he said in October 2011 as part of a "We Can't Wait" campaign he launched 10 months after Republicans took over the U.S. House of Representatives.

Since then, the president has turned to executive orders, policy directives, waivers, signing statements and other administrative steps to bypass Congress and act on contentious issues, including immigration, welfare, education reform and now gun violence.

Acting in response to the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, Obama announced 23 executive actions Wednesday designed to ensure guns don't get into the wrong hands. He also called on Congress to ban the sale of assault rifles, limit the size of ammunition clips and require background checks for all gun sales.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta joined the gun control debate on Thursday when he told troops at a military base in Italy that only soldiers needed armor-piercing bullets or assault weapons.

Asked by a soldier what President Barack Obama would do to protect school children from gun violence without infringing Americans' right to own guns, Panetta said action was needed after the attack on a Connecticut school in December in which a gunman killed 20 children and six adults.

He told members of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team at Vicenza that there were areas where steps could be taken,

"I mean who the hell needs armor-piercing bullets except you guys in battle?"

U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden walk from the White House to the Treasury for an event honoring outgoing Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in Washington January 16, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

FBI Director Robert Mueller visited Libya on Thursday, an FBI official said, as U.S. investigators continued their inquiry into the September attack in Benghazi in which U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died.

"The director's visit was an opportunity to discuss ongoing cooperation on a number of issues," said the FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

U.S. President Barack Obama's message of hope and change has inspired his half-brother Malik to launch a political career of his own, with his eye on elections in Kenya in March.

"If my brother is doing great things for people in the United States, why can't I do great things for Kenyans here?" Malik Obama told Reuters in the village of Kogelo, President Obama's ancestral homeland.

Malik, 54, is running for governorship of the rural Siaya county as an independent candidate.

"Today the Republican Party remains in hock to the NRA leadership and through them to their paymasters in the gun-making industry. The NRA runs an official list, like the old Communist Party, of preferred candidates and grades them according to their adherence to the strict constructionist interpretation of the Second Amendment. If a candidate fails to offer total support for absolutist gun rights, the NRA funds a campaign in the next party primary to unseat them."

Reuters: Speaker Boehner says House will pursue budget strategies that force U.S. Senate to pass budget; Boehner adds that there should be no long-term U.S. debt limit increase before Senate passes budget

U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said on Friday there should be no long-term increase in the federal debt limit until the Senate passes a budget, and House Republicans will try to force the Senate into action to cut spending.

"We are going to pursue strategies that will obligate the Senate to finally join the House in confronting the government's spending problem. The principle is simple: no budget, no pay," Boehner said in excerpts of his closing remarks to a Republican House retreat.

The Senate has not passed a formal budget resolution in nearly four years, as Congress has relied largely on stop-gap funding measures to keep government agencies and programs running.

President Barack Obama should hope that old adage, “You only get one chance to make a first impression,” isn’t true. In his second Inaugural Address Monday, he has a chance to sharpen his arguments and move the nation in a way that eluded him the first time around.

Instead of a soggy sermon about political maturity, Obama should offer a ripping defense of his vision of government and its role in the economy. He has nothing to fear but controversy itself.

U.S. House to consider 3-month debt limit extension next week- Rep. Cantor

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Jan 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives will consider a bill next week to extend the debt limit by three months in order to force the Senate to pass a budget, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Friday.

"Next week, we will authorize a three-month temporary debt limit increase to give the Senate and House time to pass a budget," Cantor said in an emailed statement.

"If the Senate or House fails to pass a budget in that time, members of Congress will not be paid by the American people for failing to do their job. No budget, no pay," he said on the last day of a House Republican retreat in Williamsburg.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said on Friday that if the Republican-led House of Representatives can pass a "clean" debt ceiling increase, the Democrat-majority Senate "will be happy to consider it."

"It is reassuring to see Republicans beginning to back off their threat to hold our economy hostage," Reid's spokesman Adam Jentleson said in a statement.

The statement was issued after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Republican, said the House would consider a bill next week to extend the U.S. debt limit by three months.

WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - The White House on Friday welcomed plans by U.S. House of Representatives Republicans to raise the government's debt ceiling, as long as the increase is not conditioned upon spending cuts.

"We are encouraged that there are signs that congressional Republicans may back off their insistence on holding our economy hostage to extract drastic cuts in Medicare, education and programs middle class families depend on," White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement. "Congress must pay its bills and pass a clean debt limit increase without further delay."

The House will consider a bill next week to extend the debt limit by three months in order to force the Senate to pass a budget, Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Friday.

WASHINGTON A Russian propaganda arm oversaw a criminal and espionage conspiracy to tamper in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign to support Donald Trump and disparage Hillary Clinton, said an indictment released on Friday that revealed more details than previously known about Moscow's purported effort to interfere. | Video

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest international multimedia news provider reaching more than one billion people every day. Reuters provides trusted business, financial, national, and international news to professionals via Thomson Reuters desktops, the world's media organizations, and directly to consumers at Reuters.com and via Reuters TV. Learn more about Thomson Reuters products: